Thill-coupling



(ModeL) JFH. FLEMMING; THILIE. COUPLING.

. Patented Mar.27,1883. 171 9.1.

U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. 1

"THlLL-COUPLlNG.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 274,751, dated March 27, 1883.

Application filed January 13, 1883. (Model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, J OHN H. FLEMMiNG,'a citizen of the United-States of America, residing at Dundee, in the county of Monroe and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Thill-couplings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to a device for preventing plain bolts, coupling-pins, and the like from becoming displaced longitudinally in their seats, its object being to provide a lock which will hold such bolts and pins securely in place when in use, and yet permit them to be readily removed and replaced at will.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a view in elevation of a thill-coupling having my invention applied thereto for the purpose of holding its coupling-pin in place. Fig. 2

' is a similar view, showing the lock retracted and thecoupling-pin partially withdrawn; and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of thelock and its supporting-plate detached.

The letter A indicates a thill-eoupling, and

. a a its eyes, which receive the coupling-pin b.

Under and to one side of the eyes a (t is a metallic plate, 0, having one end connected to the yoke of the coupling-clip. This plate 0 has formed in it a longitudinal slot, in which is arranged a strip-sprin g, d, the ends of which are prevented from moving downward by Zro lock in position, as shown in Fig. 1, it will be directly against the head of the bolt and effectually prevents its working out of its seat, thus dispensing with the use of nutsor other holding devices on the inner end of the pin, said devices being difficult both of application and" removal, unreliable in use, and apt to be jolted off and lost. When it is desirable to remove the pin or bolt it is only necessary to press the look back to the position as shown in Fig. 2, the stripspring allowing this movement, and holding the lock in its retracted position by hearing against the tail-piece 9 In this retracted position the lock may be allowed to remain until the pin is again inserted, and should then be turned up again to its lockin g position.

I do not of course confine. myself to the apcoupling-pins in thill-couplings, as it is obviously adapted to the holding in place of all kinds of bolts or pins which are liable to become longitudinally displaced. I have shown the plate G attached to the yoke-piece of the coupling-clip simply because this would be a convenient manner of supporting said plate in the special use as illustrated; but it is obvious that the plate may be formed separately and secured in place by means of screws in the ordinary manner, and it may be arranged so that the lock will bear against the head of the bolt or pin in any position. Nor do I confine myself to the particular form of ,spring or lock as shown in the drawings, as they may be varied to considerable extent without departing from the essential principle of my in vention.

Having now fully described my invention and the operation thereof, I claim- 1. The combination, with a thin-coupling, of the lock G, arranged to bear against the head of the pin inserted in the eyes of. said coupling, and a suitable spring arranged to retain said lock against the head of the pin, or in its retracted position, as desired, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a thill-coupling and its clip-yoke, of the slotted plate 0, made in one piece with said yoke, the lock G, pivseen that the bearing-plate of said lock stands plication of my invention to the locking of 0 se'mrmn oted to said plate, and having the tail-g iece g In testimony whereof Iaffix my signature in arranged to play in the slot of said plate, and presence of two Witnesses. the strip spring having its ends bearing against shoulders formed at the ends of said JOHN H. FLEMMING. slot, and its intermediate portion arranged to bear against said tail-piece, the whole con- Witnesses:

strueted and operating substantially as de- SIDNEY B. ROWELL,

' scribed, and for the purpose set forth. RILEY GOVELL. 

